Device for supporting and guiding belts of drafting assemblies



Aug- 28, 1962 E. ROGNER 3,050,789

I DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AND GUIDING BELTS OF DRAFTING ASSEMBLIES Filed July :1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wrE/vroe W Sm.

Aug. 28, 1962 E. ROGNER DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING AND GUIDING BELTS OF DRAFTING ASSEMBLIES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31, 1959 United rates Patent 3,050,789 DEVICE FOR SUPPGRTING AND GUIDHQG EELTS F DRAFTENG ASSEMBLIES Ernst Rogner, Stuttgart-Bad Qannstatt, Germany, assignor to SKF Kngellagerfahrihen G.m.h.H., $tuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, Germany Filed July 31, 1959, Ser. No. ssasso Claims priority, application Germany Aug. 5, 1958 Claims. (iii. 19-252) The present invention relates to textile apparatus.

More particularly, the present invention relates to the drafting section of spinning machines used in manufacturing yarns. In the drafting section of spinning machines the rovings are drafted, and part of the drafting structure includes belts between which the rovings move. The present invention is particularly concerned with the structure which supports and guides the upper belts of such drafting assemblies.

Particular problems occur with upper belts of this type. Especially where the drafting machines are heavily loaded, the structure which supports and guides the upper belts of such drafting machines is subjected to high stresses and it does not infreqeuntly happen that the conventional structure for supporting and guiding the upper drafting belts becomes permanently deformed so that the upper and lower belts cannot properly cooperate and so that the quality of the spun yarn suffers.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a device capable of supporting and guiding the upper belt of a drafting assembly and at the same time being of such great strength that it will be capable of withstanding any of the forces which otherwise would result in the deformation of a conventional device of this type.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a belt supporting and guiding device of the above type which while being quite strong at the same time is made of relatively simple components and is quite compact and easy to combine with the other drafting structure.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a structure of the abovetype which will guarantee the best possible operation of the drafting belts while at' the same time being quite simple and inexpensive.

With the above objects in view, the present invention includes a device for supporting and guiding an upper drafting belt which extends around a top roll of a drafting assembly of a spinning machine. This device of the invention includes a supporting strip in which a portion of an axle of the top roll is journalled An elongated guide rail is located forwardly'of this supporting strip and has a front edge around which the upper belt passes, and this guide rail is substantially parallel to the axis of the top roll. A connecting strip of the structure of the invention is fixed rigidly with and extends along this guide rail, and this connecting strip is integral with the supporting strip, so that the bearing and connecting strips together with the guide 'rail form a unitary assembly which is quite strong and capable of withstanding large forces without any undesirable deformation.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific and constructive embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional illustration of a device according to the present invention, the conventional structure which is associated with the device of the invention being illustrated in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 2 is a front end view of the structure of the invention, and in FIG. 2 the conventional parts are also illustrated in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device of the invention, and FIG. 3 also illustrates the conventional structure in dot-dash lines; and

FIG. 4 diagramrnaically illustrates the entire drafting assembly showing how the structure of the invention is incorporated therein.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, it will be seen that the top rolls carrying arm 1 is shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1. As is conventional, this top rolls carrying arm 1 is pivotally connected with a plurality of levers which respectively terminate in saddles which respectively embrace the axle portions which extend between the sev eral pairs of top rolls so that in this way the severali pairs of top rolls are connected to the top rolls carrying arm 1. As is shown in FIGS. 1-3, a pair of coaxial top rolls 2 are interconnected by the axle 3, and the saddle which is illustrated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1 embraces the axle 3 in a conventional manner. The axle 3 has a pair of axially spaced supporting portions located between the top rolls 2, and a pair of supporting strip portions 4 of the device of the invention extend around and receive the supporting portions of the axle 3 so as to serve as supports therefor. The entire device of the invention is indicated with reference character 5. The device of the invention further includes a substantially S-shaped leaf spring 6 which has an upper free end portion (FIG. 1) engaging beneath the front end of the saddle which cooperates with the axle 3 so as to urge the device 5 downwardly in a counterclockwise direction around the axis of the axle 3, and in this way the device 5 is maintained in its operating position where it cooperates with the lower guide rail 8 shown in MG. 1 to guide the upper belts 9 properly with respect to the lower belts 7, the belts 7 and 9 being shown in dot-dash lines also. The device 5 of the present invention includes an elongated guide rail 10 which extends parallel to the axis of the top rolls 2 and which extends over the lower guide rail 8, and the belts 9 pass around the front edge of the guide rail it), this front edge being located at the left on the guide rail 1!], as viewed in FIG. 1, so that with the structure of the invention the upper belts 9 have a large full area of contact with the lower belts 7 to provide the best possible drafting action.

The lower bolts 7 not only pass around the guide rail 8 but they also pass around the bottom rolls 11, and these bottom rolls 11 are driven in a known way.

As is particularly apparent from FIG. 3, the free ends of the supporting strips 4 which are distant from the guide rail 1d are interconnected by a suitable connecting strip which is in fact integralwi-th the supporting strips 4, this latter connecting strip being shown at the right end of the strips 4, as viewed in FIG. 1. At their opposite ends which are next to the guide rail it} the supporting strips 4 are rigidly fixed with an elongated connecting strip 12 which in the illustrated example is integral with the supporting strips 4. This elongated connecting strip 12 extends parallel to the common axis of the rolls 2 along the guide rail 1d and has a considerable area overlapping an intermediate portion of the guide rail It so as to provide a large area of contact between the connecting strip 12 and the guide rail 11 The connecting strip 12 is rigidly fixed with the guide rail 10 as, for example, by being welded thereto. Thus, the connecting strip 12 can be spot welded to the guide rail 19 so as to be permanently and rigidly connected therewith whereby the supporting member including the supporting strips 4 and the connecting strip 12 forms a unitary structure with the guide rail 10.

At its free ends the connecting strip 12 is provided ,at its free ends which are located beyond the ears 13 with additional guide membersor cars 14 which respectively cooperate with the outer edges of the belts 9, so thateach belt 9 passes between a pair of cars 13 and 14 to be laterally guided thereby.

. An intermediate portion 12' of the. connecting strip 12 is spaced from the top surface or upper side of the rail to define with the latter 'a space extending transversely to. the longitudinal direction of the guide rail through which a portion of the leaf spring 6 passes,'so that in this way the leaf spring 6 is connected with the structure by being partially received between the intermediate portion of the guide rail it and the adjacent portion of the connecting strip 12. At its left free end portion the leaf spring 6 is bent downwardly, as is evident from FIG. 1, so that it-has a free end portion 6' extending along the downwardly inclined left portion of the guide rail 10, as viewed in FIG. 1. This free end portion 6' prevents falling of the leaf spring 6 from the remainder of the structure of the invention.

Adjacent to its frontiedge the guide rail 10 threadedly carries an abutment member in the form of a screw 15 whose lower portion or head end extends downwardly beyond the underside of the guide rail 10 and rests directly on the lower guide rail 8 of the spinning machine, so that the top surface of the rail 8 acts as a stop surface cooperating with the screw 15 for determining the operating position of the deviceS and thus determinating the position of the belts 9. By turning the screw 15 it is therefore possible to adjust the elevation of the guide rail 10 and hence the operating position of the device 5.

The orientation of the structure of the invention in the entire-drafting machine is shown in FIG. 4. As

is indicated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 4, the drafting machine includes a suitable base structure which supports the several bottom rolls for adjustable movement in the direction of the drawing field. Thus, the several bottom rolls are carried by bearings which are themselves shiftable along the inclined supporting surface shown in FIG. 4 in both-directions along the rovings. The lower guide rail 8 is carried by the bearing which supports the front bottom rolls, and the bottom rolls 11 are clearly illustrated in FIG. 4 supported by their own adjustable bearing. The belts 7 which respectively cooperate with the belts 9 extend around the guide rail 8 as well as around the pair of coaxial bottomrolls 11, and the supporting base of the structure carries a tensioning roll which hangs in the belts 7 adjacent to their lowermost portions for the purpose of tensioning these belts 7. The supporting frame of the drafting assembly includes an elongated bar which extends horizontally throughout the entire series of drafting units and to which an upwardly directed arm is clamped in the manner shown in FIG. 4. Of course a great number of such arms are clamped to the bar, and each of these upwardly directed arms is pivotally connected with a top rolls carrying arm 1, so that the latter is turnable downwardly to the operating position illustrated in FIG. 4 as well as upwardly to an inopera: tive position. FIG. 4 also illustrates the pivoted members which are turnably carried by the arm 1 and which terminate at their left free ends, as viewed in FIG. 4, in thesaddles which extend around the shafts between the several pairs of top rolls.

When the top rolls carrying arm 1 is turned up to its inoperative or rest position, the device 5 turns in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, around the axle 3 and hangs from the latter. When the arm 1 is returned to its operative position, the operator temporarily turns the device 5 together with the belts 9 in a clockwise direction so that the belts 9 rest on the belts 7, and thereafter the device is again ready for operation.

Although the elongated connecting portion 12 of the structure of the invention is shown only partly overlapping the guide rail it), it is possible of course to position the connect ng strip 12 entirely overlapping the guide rail 10, and the cross sectional shapes of the connecting strip 12 and guide rail 1% at the portion of the latter overlapped by the connecting strip 12 are substantially Thus, in the case of FIG. 1, these cross sec:

. inner side edges for the belts 9, it is possible to extend the connecting strip 12 along substantially the entire length of the guide rail 10, and in this latter v event the cars 13 would simply be struck from the material of the strip 12. r

The spacing of the intermediate portion 12' of the connecting strip 12 from the guide rail 10 enables the leaf spring 6 to be assembled with the remainder of the structure after the welding of the connecting strip 12 to the guide rail 19.

Of course, if it is desired to further strengthen the structure the connecting strip 12 may be provided with strengthening ribs which may either take the formrof separate ribs fastened to the member 12 or the latter may be suitably shaped so as to be provided with ribs on one side and grooves on the other side also for the purpose of strengthening the structure by rendering it more-rigid.

With the stiucture of the invention where the supporting strips 4 areintegral with the connecting strip 12 and the latter is rigidly fixed with the guide rail 10, this guide rail 19 together with the connecting strip 12 and the this way the best possible cooperation of the upper belts 9 with the lower belts 7 is guaranteed.

It will be understood that each of the eIements described above, or two or more together, may also finda useful application in other types of drafting assemblies differing from the types described above. 7

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in belt supporting and guiding structure for drafting assemblies, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential char acteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims;

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. For use in the drafting assembly of a spinning ma chine, a device for supporting and guiding an upper drafting belt which extends around a top roll, said'device comprising, in combination, a supporting member includroll and at least a portion of said connecting strip means extending along one side and adjacent to an intermediate portion of said guide rail, said portion of the connecting strip means being rigidly connected with the intermediate portion of said guide rail so as to reinforce the same and so that the supporting member and the guide rail form a unitary structure; a leaf spring having a first portion received between said portion of the connecting strip means and the intermediate portion of said guide rail, and a second portion extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail; and belt guiding members rigid with said unitary structure and extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail.

2. For use in the drafting assembly of a spinning machine, a device for supporting and guiding an upper drafting belt which extends around a top roll, said device comprising, in combination, a supporting member including supporting strip means in which a portion of a shaft of the top roll is received and connecting strip means integral with said supporting strip means; an elongated guide rail located forwardly of said supporting strip means and having an upper side, an underside, and a front edge around which the upper belt passes, said guide rail being substantially parallel with the axis of the top roll and at least a portion of said connecting strip means extending along one side and adjacent to an intermediate portion of said guide rail, said portion of the connecting strip means being rigidly connected with the intermediate portion of said guide rail so as to reinforce the same and so that the supporting member and the guide rail form a unitary structure, said portion of the connecting strip means extending in the longitudinal direction of said guide rail and defining with said intermediate portion a space extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of said guide rail; a substantially S-shaped leaf spring having a first portion received in said space and a second portion extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail and toward said supporting strip means; and belt guiding members rigid with said unitary structure and extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail.

3. For use in the drafting assembly of a spinning machine, a device for supporting and guiding a pair of upper drafting belts which respectively extend around a pair of coaxial top rolls, said device comprising, in combination, a supporting member including a pair of identical supporting strips located beside and in alignment with and spaced from each other and respectively receiving shaft portions of the top rolls, and a connecting strip integral with and extending forwardly of said supporting strips; and elongated guide rail located forwardly of said supporting strips and having an upper side, an underside, and a front edge around which the upper belts pass, said guide rail being substantially parallel with the axes of the top rolls and at least a portion of said connecting strip extending along one side and adjacent to an intermediate portion of said guide rail, said portion of the connecting strip being rigidly connected with the intermediate portion of said guide rail so as to reinforce the same and so that the supporting member and the guide rail form a unitary structure; a leaf spring having a first portion received between the intermediate portion of said guide rail and said portion of the connecting strip, and a second portion extending beyond the upper side of the guide rail for engaging with a saddle of the top rolls for urging the guide rail downwardly; a pair of guiding members for each upper drafting belt, said guiding members being rigid with said unitary structure and extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail; and an abutment member carried by and having a portion extending downwardly from and adjacent to the front edge of said guide rail to engage with a stop surface of the spinning machine for determining the elevation of said guide rail.

4. For use in the drafting assembly of a spinning machine, a device for supporting and guiding a pair of upper drafting belts which respectively extend around a pair of coaxial top rolls, said device comprising, in combination, a supporting member including a pair of identical supporting strips located beside and in alignment with and spaced from each other and respectively receiving shaft portions of the top rolls, and a connecting strip integral with and extending forwardly of said supporting strips; an elongated guide rail located forwardly of said sup porting strips and having an upper side, an underside, and a front edge around which the upper belts pass, said guide rail being substantially parallel with the axes of the top rolls and at least a portion of said connecting strip extending dong one side and adjacent to an intermediate portion of said guide rail, said portion of the connecting strip being rigidly connected with the intermediate portion of said guide rail so as to reinforce the same and so that the supporting member and the guide rail form a unitary structure; a leaf spring having a first portion received between the intermediate portion of said guide rail and said portion of the connecting strip, and a second portion extending beyond the upper side of the guide mail for engaging with a saddle of the top rolls for urging the guide rail downwardly; a pair of guiding members for each upper drafting belt, one of each pair of said guiding members being integral with said connecting strip and the other of each pair of said guiding members integral with said guide rail; and an abutment member carried by and having a portion extending downwardly from and adjacent to the front edge of said guide rail to engage with a stop surface of the spinning machine for determining the elevation of said guide rail. I

5. For use in the drafting assembly of a spinning machine, a device for supporting and guiding a pair of upper drafting belts which respectively extend around a pair of coaxial top rolls, said device comprising, in combination, a supporting member including a pair of identical supporting strips located beside and in alignment with and spaced from each other and respectively receiving shaft portions of the top rolls, and a connecting strip integral with and extending forwardly of said supporting strips; an elongated guide rail located forwardly of said supporting strips and having an upper side, an underside, and a front edge around which the upper belts pass, said guide rail being substantially parallel with the axes of the top rolls and at least a portion of said connecting strip extending along the upper side and adjacent to an intermediate portion of said guide'rail, said portion of the connecting strip being rigidly connected with the intermediate portion of said guide rail so as to reinforce the same and so that the supporting member and the guide rail form a unitary structure; a leaf spring having a first portion received between the intermediate portion of said guide rail and said portion of the connecting strip, and a second portion extending beyond the upper side of the guide rail for engaging with a saddle of the top rolls for urging the guide rail downwardly; a pair of guiding members for each upper drafting belt, said guiding members rigid with said unitary structure and extending beyond the upper side of said guide rail; and an adjustable screw threadedly carried by and having a head extending downwardly from and adjacent to the front edge of said guide rail to engage with a stop surface of the spinning machine for determining the elevation of said guide rail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,290 Neu et al May 17, 1955 2,789,320 Dausch Apr. 23, 1957 2,941,262 Schiltknecht June 21, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 745,127 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1956 

